NAMPA, Idaho — The Nampa Civic Center is fundraising to upgrade their seats and update ADA compliance.
- 640 seats will be replaced with about 620 larger and more comfortable seats
- ADA seats will be moved from the bottom rows of the theatre to a middle aisle
- A center aisle down the middle of the theatre will be added, making it easier to enter and exit rows
- If you would like to donate to the Nampa Civic Center to get new seats, you can do so here.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
The Nampa Civic Center opened in 1990 and not much has changed since then.
Kelsie DeArmond is also a lifelong Nampa resident and season ticket holder.
Her daycare business uses the Civic Center for performances and has noticed older crowd members having to sit in less-than-ideal positions.
"Maybe more grandparents that have to sit to the side. And of course, they can't see as well so then you're sitting to the side and you can't see your grandkid as well," Kelsie said.
That's because the current layout has 640 seats in 16 rows with ADA spaces on the outside edges of the bottom rows.
This requires people with walkers or wheelchairs to go up and down the theatre slope to get to their seats.
"And I could see that. I'm fairly mobile but I see a lot of people that struggle a little bit, somebody coming in in a wheelchair, there's not really places for them," added Ed Schiller, long-time Nampa resident.
Upgrading ADA compliance is one of the main goals of the redesign but another concern is safety. One member of the operations team was telling me that the welds between the seats break, and the seats collapse in.
Replacing and renovating would bring the seats down to around 620, but would be mutually beneficial for the Civic Center and Music Theatre of Idaho.
"We're sold out at around 640 but if we were to have to have less seats we would probably be looking at extending our runs," explained Mac Fishman, CEO of Music Theatre of Idaho.
The Civic Center is looking to change all that through sponsor donations to replace all 640 seats, create a new ADA row through the middle of the theatre, and a center aisle to make getting in and out of rows easier.
"The seats are going to be new, so much more comfortable, much more accommodating to our folks coming out here. Getting us up to current ADA code which will be great for all of our different users of the theatre here," said Andrew Luther, General Manager of the Civic Center.
The Civic Center has gotten creative with available resources. Using the previous stage curtain for the current acoustic panels.
The new upgrades would cost around $500,000 with plans to honor donors around the center.
"I think it's excellent, I think that's exactly what it needs in there. You also think, like, movie theatres nowadays, you're sitting in a recliner that's heated and that's amazing. So I think a lot of people come from one of those to this and think 'Oh yeah this could be updated'," concluded Kelsie.
If you would like to donate to the Nampa Civic Center to get new seats, you can do so here.
